Alexis Korner
April 19, 1928 – January 1, 1984
Alexis Korner has been rightfully called the “Founding Father of British Blues.” In 1955, Korner and fellow blues enthusiast and musician Cyril Davies opened the London Blues and Barrelhouse Club so there would be a place in town for American blues artists to play. It would be the first exposure to American blues music that many young Londoners ever had. Korner and Bond soon formed Blues Incorporated, an electric band whose ever-changing roster included Charlie Watts, Ginger Baker, Long John Baldry, Graham Bond, and Jack Bruce. Future greats like Rod Stewart, Mick Jagger, John Mayall, and Jimmy Page and Brian Jones were all fans and occasionally sat in with the band. By 1966, Blues Incorporated was over and Korner moved over to British television where he was an entertainment news correspondent for a children’s program. The ’70s and ’80s found Korner working in a few different jazz- and blues-centric groups. He died of lung cancer on January 1, 1984 at the age of 55.